Race Recap: Rock 'n Roll Seattle Half Marathon

I can't believe Seattle was almost two weeks ago. After playing all day in the city on Friday, we grabbed food on the way back from the Space Needle, chowed down and got ready for the morning. With the forecast of rain still lingering, we were totally uncertain about what to pack for the morning! Long sleeves? Jacket? Shorts? Gah! Stupid crazy weather. 

I set out my tank and shorts and had my running jacket packed just in case, but lo and behold when we woke up in the morning and headed out - no rain! It had clearly poured that night, but it seemed to have all gotten out of its system by the time we woke up at 5:30. It was almost humid outside - 50-something degrees, but it felt warmer than that, so I had zero complaints. I walked to the start in my jacket, just in case.

A few of us rocked our rainbows to #StandwithOrlando.

We decided to walk the mile up to the Space Needle and found ourselves very quickly in the throes of all the other runners getting ready. We walked over to the start line and played around with photos and shenanigans before we decided to find our way to Solutions to grab my VIP bracelet. We caught one of the staff members and asked when the wheelchair start was, as I'd never seen the start line that empty, save for the four wheelchair athletes starting to line up. He told us the start was delayed until 7:15 (it was about 6:35 at this point) due to traffic.

Yes, that's Libby in a onesie. Loved it.

Hearing that, we headed back towards the Seattle Center to find Solutions and get my wristband for a little post-race action. After hopping in the longest Solutions line ever (downside to a Saturday morning race, I think, is that a Thursday-Friday expo is hard for folks to get to sometimes), I learned I could just check in at VIP after the race and get squared away up there. Woot. We headed back toward the start line so we could catch the wheelchair start.

Apparently Seattle is one of RnR's largest events, as it offers an 8K, half and full. With 40-something corrals, you could tell it is certainly huge! Tons of people not following their corrals and jumping wherever - though I was assigned 13, I ditched my jacket with Lindsay and figured I'd take the risk and see how weather turned out. I headed back to 16 to hang out with Libby and try and find Briana in the midst of it. No such luck, but we were in the middle of 16 at that point and decided just to hang.

Libby and I got started and contemplated the idea of her running a PR that day. She wasn't sure, but she had a 2:21 to beat and maybe - just maybe - this could be the place to do it. My only goals for the race were to enjoy it, take it all in, and just have a better day than I had at San Diego. Easy goals, right? We caught up with Briana and Andrew about a mile and a half in, and ran with them for a bit and then carried on!

I LOVED getting to run through the sights of Seattle - it made me wish I had stayed an extra day to play in the city and take it all in, but such is life! We had a little fun as we ran through Pioneer Square, by the cruise ship terminals and down and around CenturyLink in the background. A 10K split PR for Libby, and we were on to good things! Boom! Libby split for a restroom stop and I carried on, trying to keep steady so she could catch me. I found this guy about mile 8:

Andrew and Briana caught up to me about there, and I continued with them through the last tunnels and back into the city. About mile 10, we caught up with one of the wheelchair athlete who was going backwards up the last incline - can you say inspiration? My legs were tired, but certainly not any more tired than his arms. I fought harder just to be sure I really tired myself out by the end.

It got really humid inside the tunnel - certainly mostly thanks to all of us sweaty folks - but also for the impending rain outside. When we came out of the tunnel, it started to mist... and then rain a little harder. Never a full on rain, but at mile 12, it was a nice little repreive from the humidity and the rain just teasing us. At that point, I actually really liked it. 

You come down up and over the offramp that leads back towards CenturyField and SafeCo Field. It's a nice gradual downhill, just to climb a little bit up and around the stadium, which was a little cruel, but whatever. The rain started to come down just a little bit harder but actually felt pretty good - at least for a little while!

And just like that, that was it! My goal of just having a better day than San Diego was more than achieved, and my 2:17 finish was pretty on point with how I felt. I walked when I wanted, enjoyed the course, took photos and had a great day. Zero complaints. I will note that I think this new course is totally worth of a PR kind of day - a few gradual inclines but more than enough decline to make up for it. Fast and flat otherwise and a beautiful one, to boot! 

Overall, I loved this race. The course is definitely quieter than San Diego, but that's not a fair comparison by any means! Gorgeous scenery, a fun run through a new state for this girl and I have zero complaints overall. I am glad the rain didn't totally pull through and the mist at the end was just enough to cool me off and feel nice (again, for a little bit). 

I was lucky to have access to the VIP area, but more on that soon in an upcoming post!

Where will I see you rock this year?

Want to rock with me at an upcoming race? Use code RUNMEGANRUN to save!

Disclosure: I am a member of Rock 'n Blog and was given a 2016 Global Tour Pass from the folks at Rock 'n Roll and Competitor. The opinions expressed herein are my own and represent my experience at the race and over the weekend as a whole. Otherwise, no compensation was given for this review. 

Race Report: Rock 'n Roll San Diego Half Marathon

Rock 'n Roll San Diego Half Marathon

June 5, 2016 | San Diego, CA

A few days later, and this is still kind of a rough pill to swallow. The short version? I ran my personal worst half marathon ever. I can't even use the word ran. I walked. I walked my personal worst half ever. And better yet, I crushed my personal worst time! 

Let's start with Saturday. While in the middle of a 13-hour day on campus (yay orientation season!), I started seeing tweets and Insta updates from lots of folks (namely the #Fontana2SD crew) about the Temecula fire that had I-15 closed for a number of hours. What should have been a 2 hour drive turned into 8 for some of these people! It was at that point, that I seriously contemplated not making the drive, backing out of Sunday's race, and just calling it a day. I told Doug this when I got home at 7 pm, but he kindly reminded me that I'd be pissed at myself later if I didn't go - so at 8:30 pm, I made my way down to San Diego. Though the 15 was half open, that still doesn't do a lot of good on that freeway, so I took a detour and made my way to the 5 and down from there - still a 2 hour drive - and crashed on Jessica's couch about 10:30 pm. What a day. 

Because I didn't make it to the expo on Saturday (duh), I needed to be up & at it extra early on Sunday to get to Solutions and get to my bib. I was up and out of Jess' place about 5:20 to jog the half mile to the start line, and the extra quarter-mile to the Solutions table (which was the furthest table from the start line out of all of them. What the hekc?!). On the way I ran into Michael - many thanks to the freakin' awesome Neon Waves. Lemme tell you, they stand out.

Post-Solutions, I ran my way back to the start line for the epicness to begin: pre-race photos with the Pro crew (heyyyyy, nice socks!), We Run Social crew, all the blogger friends I've been dying to meet - all in one place! Best ever.

All the socks! These Neon Waves POP, don't they?

Best crew ever.

So originally my race day plan was to run with Ashley and we were gonna push ourselves and run a nice sub-2. She pulled her hamstring, however, on Saturday during the 5K and wasn't certain about her abilities on Sunday (spoiler: she didn't even end up running!). :( This also contributed to my almost-decision to not even drive down for the race - I needed a new race day plan! After such a long day on Saturday, I wasn't even sure that a sub-2 was do-able, let alone on untrained legs lately.

Rock 'n Roll introduced a new course this year that was a lot gentler compared to last year's rolling hills. 

.

I actually REALLY enjoyed this new course - many of the killer hills we ran UP last year were ones we ran down this year, but you still got some of the great neighorhoods - the tequila shots and donuts in North Park, the drag cheerleaders, and tons of local high school cheer squads all along the way. 

I started the race with a few of the WRS / Rock n Blog crew, but ended up running a mile or so with David (sweetest family ever!). We caught up to Linzie and Sarah, who was struggling with some dehydration from Fontana the day before, so they were kinda run walking at this point. David took off (byeeee) and I hung around with Linz and Sarah. Good decision. We ran, we walked, we talked  a lot. We had donuts, drank some champagne... all in good fun.

Whatcha doin' there, Sarah?

Give me all the donuts, please.

And then, just before mile 5, it happened. Linzie and Sarah were just steps ahead of me, and mid-stride, I felt my whole body go in a circle and just said "Whoaaa" out loud. They both turned around and said that I had gone ghost-white, and I just felt dizzy. We walked back to the beer stand we had just passed in some guy's yard, asked if they had water. I took a few sips and sat down for a few, when Smitha had caught up to us and hung out for a few. I started feeling a little better, so we got up and kept moving - still a walk (mostly), but kept going.

At this point, I knew this race was going to be a whatever kind of day. Thank goodness I didn't have any real goals on the line. The new course is definitely PR-friendly in my eyes, but it just wasn't one of those kind of days. We joked about mile 6 that we could totally run a personal worst, if we were going to have goals at all (Sarah's was 2:46, mine 2:48). While we didn't want to aim for such a time, it was still totally do-able. 

And then we just kept going. Ran strides a block or so long, ran down hills, but walked and had fun. Truthfully, I would have been a mess if it weren't for Linz and Sarah, and I am grateful they were there to relish in the craptastic race it had become.

Lots of photos, lots of Snaps, lots of fun. Lots of laughing at the sheer disbelief about what the day had turned into. At least those two had run Fontana the day before - while I'd been on my feet 13 hours the day before, I didn't feel tired. After all, I had done the same thing last year (worked on Saturday, ran on Sunday) and felt fine. When I told my boss this on Monday morning, he said "Well, yeah, you were younger last year!" Thanks dude. Just a reminder that I'm getting old! 

New personal worst: check. 

And then we finished. The last three miles or so were the same as last year's, but instead of turning down to Petco Park, you run into downtown, up a slight hill and finish on Ash Street. The finish line funnel was a TOTAL cluster, and I immediately hated the new finish line area. Waterfront Park is great, but cannot sufficiently hold the size of the race that San Diego is. Sarah and I hung around, chatted with friends, found new friends, watched Gavin DeGraw for a song or two and then made our way to the We Run Social meet up: our crew!

I only got to hang out at the social for a bit, as I had stuff waiting for me at home, but I loved getting to see soooo many blends this year! Last year, I was pretty much in for the race and back out again, and hated that I missed so many people. This year was just lots of selfies, lots of photos and lots of FUN! Despite a terrible personal race day, this was a day that confirmed what the running community is all about. 

So there it is. A terrible personal race day experience. Awesome new course (minus the finish line). Awesome city - America's Finest City for a reason. But lots of fun - truly. I was definitely feeling the dehydration (what I've deemed the cause of my dizzyness) on Monday, and Monday was tough. Ya live, ya learn, right? 

On to the next one! I'm running Seattle in a week and  a half and determined to make that a slightly better race day!

Did you rock and roll through San Diego? What'd you think of the new course?

PST! You can get in on a limited pre-sale for next year's races. The half marathon is only $50 and the full is only $59. Act fast, it's closing soon! Race weekend is June 3-4, 2017. 

Race Recap: OC Marathon

OC Marathon | May 1, 2016

Newport Beach to Costa Mesa, CA

Have you ever had one of those races where two three four (this is how long it's taken me to write this) days later, you're still not sure what happened? And you keep going back to the race results page to make sure it's a real thing and that you in fact achieved it? That's what this race is. Like, I seriously have no idea where to start because I'm still in disbelief - but then I get up and walk again and am reminded that yeah, that happened.

I don't know where to start.

But we'll start here. Mandatory race day essentials:

Garmin | Road ID | You Got This! | PureConnects | Pro Compression | Hydraquiver | Sparkly Soul

I think it's important to note that the Monday prior to race day, the high for Sunday was forecasted at 91 degrees. When I woke up Saturday morning to head to the expo in the rain, I knew we were better off. The high had dropped to 68, and then by Sunday morning had jumped a little to 70 or so. I went back and forth for a while on using my Hydraquiver or not, but ultimately determined that I had trained with it, so I was better off taking it and having it as a resource should I need.

Doug and I were up about 3:30 to be out the door about 4. He was going to drop me at the start line and then head over to the Orange County Fairgrounds, home of the expo, finish line, and 5K, which he was running. The full started at 5:30, half at 6:30 and 5K at 7:30, so he unfortunately had a boatload of time to kill. Thanks, babe! We were at the start right about 5, and by the time I walked from my drop off to the corrals, convinced a nice guy to let me cut in the porto line, and found my way to the corrals, I had less than 10 minutes to kill until the gun. Timing at its best. 

Noteworthy: reader Jennifer and I have been emailing back and forth for the last month about our long runs and how things were going. We knew what each other was wearing on race morning, but I was so scrambled at the start, I hardly saw anyone! Two minutes before gun time, I got a tap on my shoulder: "Are you Megan?" Found! So fun! She started with me in the group below... 

Yeah, you see that pace time? IERC friends!

After my 21-miler a few weeks ago where I managed a 9:12 pace (yeah, what?!), I decided that I could at least start with Jen and the 4:00 group. What did I have to lose (I mean, besides all my energy, but that's whatever)? I'd give it a shot. Mind you, my goals for this race may or may not have been in line with this, but remember that my marathon PR is a 4:52 heading into this morning! Jen's a regular pacer with Beast and I know her from around IERC and Fleet Feet, so I knew she'd hold me tight and help me get to a finish - a pacer I trust, fo sho. 

9:10 - All the weaving! I thought I'd sputter out there. No lie.

8:38

8:53

8:50

It was already about mile 4 that Jen and I both noticed that our watches were about a tenth of a mile further than the mile-markers. Throughout the entire race, this varied anywhere from .10 miles to .30 miles further on my watch (i.e. when I crossed the halfway mat, my watch read 13.4). 

Photo cred: Michael, because for once I wasn't taking photos mid-run.

8:49

8:54

8:50

9:08 - Not a hill but a long gradual incline up to the trail. I remembered this part from the half last year and hated it, but remembered the views at the top. 

Proof that I was there. For more than the start line photo.

8:49

8:58

8:50 - It's THE hill. I hate this hill. Oh look, there goes team 4:00. Okay, well, I can still see Jen clearly. Keep them in your eyesight, Megan, they're not far ahead.

9:45

9:28 / Half Marathon in 1:57 (Garmin), 2:00 (chip)

9:49

11:17 - The last real climb of the course, an overpass. My stomach flared here so I managed, walked the overpass, and moved up, ready to see some club supporters at South Coast Plaza.

8:54

9:58 - Energy. Just tons of energy, and it's mile 17? 

I was banking on seeing some club people at mile 17, just to learn that they had been turned away from actually parking in South Coast Plaza, so were just outside with no banner so I missed them all completely! Oh well. 

10:06 - Shoot, there's 4:10 guy.

4:10 guy was a minute fast, and his Garmin and mine read the exact same time, so I knew I was in okay shape to still carry on.

9:42

10:34 - 20! This is where you started to feel like crap at Phoenix and look at you! You're still golden! The 4:10 pacer is still behind you, you feel good, you look good, keep rockin'. Just a 10K to go! And only three miles until Jacky. 

Tina texted me the image of my splits and at 20, I was on track for a 4:08. What the what?!

11:28

10:53

11:01 - Jacky! There's that bounding, smiling ball of energy. Just what I need.

I had told Jacky that from about 20 on, I'd been walking the first minute of each mile, and then running the rest of each mile. My miles were getting notably slower, but I felt good. I told her I was happy, and I just wanted to stay happy until the finish.

10:48 - Mental math: you're at 24, and you could walk these next two miles and still come under a 4:30. That's HUGE. But maybe you should run.

I was at that point where shuffling just sounded best. I found Eric, my 21-mile buddy, told Jacky I just needed to keep moving and maybe we'd give Eric a boost if he saw us come up from behind (sorry, Eric!). 

12:13

10:57

Running the last 3/4 mile through the fairgrounds is beyond awesome. The last quarter-mile is even more awesome because you run through a tunnel of people, dozens handing out high fives and yelling for you - I teared up. I couldn't cry, because there was nothing left, but definitely teared up.

8:55 (.52 mi)

Do you see that?

4:19:20

That, my friends, is a 33:32 PR. Huge. Admittedly, this isn't what my A goal was. It's actually a little shy of it. But when you beast your B goal with a 33 minute PR, who the hell cares?! Not this girl. 

The moment of realization.

GUYS! I did it! Massive PR in the books, awesome race in the books. 250+ miles in eight weeks pays off. hard work pays off and a little belief pays off. HELL YEAH.

Did you run the OC this year?

PS. If you read all this... thank you!

Race Report: Angels 5K

Angels 5K and Fun Run

Anaheim, CA | April 9, 2016

Doug and I did this race last year with a whole crew, but this year, it was just the two of us. It was a gray and drizzly weekend all weekend anyway, so it left me curious for how many people would actually show up this year. Spoiler: 3,676 people still showed up! 

We left home about 6:45 to get down to the stadium in a decent amount of time to park, get our bibs and shirts, walk stuff back to the car and chill for a bit before the 8 am start time. We remembered last year that despite there being two "waves," tons of folks with strollers and dogs still shove their way to the first wave, so you're definitely wasting your first mile just dodging around people and trying to find some kinda groove. By mile 2, you've mostly passed the walkers and strollers and can find some kind of rhythm, just to catch yourself in your tracks as you enter the stadium.

It's not a super exciting course by any means, but they lighten it up with having some of the team player cutouts to take photos with and with the Angels' Stike Force Squad. They definitely lighten up the course as much as they can, given that the highlight (running the warning track) isn't until 2.7 or so. 

Like I said, it was gray and cool out but we didn't get hit by any light rain until almost about the 1.5 mile mark, and it was only a drizzle at that, so it was kind of nice. We caught it again about 2.5, just before we made our way into the stadium, but it didn't last long. The nice part about the weather was that it certainly cleared people out quicker and the post-race expo was pretty dang empty by the time we were done walking through it! 

Last year, I was coming off some post-LA tendonitis and Doug hasn't really run since Surf City due to some lingering knee issues, so we figured that the combination of his injury and a massive crowd, we'd cruise through this run and just have fun. A 34-minute finish isn't something I've seen a while, but seriously, we had such a great time, who cares? Sometimes it's all about the fun run and having a blast with your guy while you're doing it, right? Right.

My only real beef with this race is how congested it is - there needs to be staff controlling that anyone with strollers, dogs, etc. needs to start in the second wave at least, so that folks who plan to just run the 5K aren't caught up in a huge crowd and/or risking injury trying to get around them by running straight into potholes or jumping on curbs to get up to the sidewalks to get around them. It's annoying as all get out, but I think speaks to safety, too, when you have a 5K of over 3,000 people. 

Otherwise, the race itself is great, medal is awesome (this year it's a spinning jersey!) and it's just a fun day to have supporting one of our favorite teams! 

Have you ever done a run through a sports team's stadium? What's your bucket list stadium run?

Race Recap: Hot Chocolate 15K San Diego

Hot Chocolate 15K San Diego

San Diego, CA | March 20

Another adventure with Beast Pacing!

This race has been on my calendar for MONTHS and I was soo stoked it was finally here! After getting in some miles at the club on Saturday (after like, ten weeks of being away), I headed home to get showered, finished packing, saying goodbye to Doug and the pup, and then headed back down to Jacky's house. Advantages to knowing tons of people doing this race? Carpool and hotel buddies! I was crashing with Jacky and her mom, so that was a definite advantage, compared to having to drive down the morning of the race like last weekend. After a mad dash to the expo (traffic sucked so we made it at 4:30 for a 5 pm closing time) and dinner with a dozen IERC runners, we made it to our hotel, got set for the morning and promptly passed out (me, at least). 

The Beast team met up at 6:20 for a race start of 7:45. There are tons of us that paced this race, as Hot Chocolate sets it up as such: preferred corrals (7:00' pace to 11:30' pace) and open corrals (9:00' to 15:00' paces). There's all kinds of qualifications for preferred times and all here. I was pacing the 9:30 group in the preferred corrals. (I was supposed to be the 10:00 pacer but moved up about a week and a half ago, so as long as I had a good day and met my pace, I guaranteed myself a PR!)

One thing I'd heard about regularly from folks who've done this race before were the hills throughout the race, to which I always thought, Well, duh, it's San Diego! San Diego is HILLY! 

The course runs through Balboa Park (re: uphill) the first 5K, then flattens out into some slight rolling hills. After winding down through Balboa Park again, there's a nasty little corkscrew up hill run at mile 7 but once you're at the top, it's a flat run and then will make its way mostly downhill for the remainder. With the start and finish near Petco Park, there's tons of room for the post-race party and fun that Hot Chocolate races involve... because duh, chocolate. 

5K: 29:24, 9:28 pace

10K: 58:46, 9:28 pace 

Finish: 1:28:27, 9:30 pace

Can you ask for anything more perfect? I've never nailed my paces that much and had such a great day doing it! Some of those hills made me work but overall the course gave me a great workout. I had a blast cheering on runners and got sooo many thank you's, which just totally made my day. Love getting to help people PR and make their goals, but there's nothing like other people thanking you for what you're doing. I just love to run - helping people out is just an added bonus! 

Mission accomplished! AND - this is just icing the cake - I paced myself to a 6-minute 15K PR! I recognize that 15Ks are rare (this is my fourth ever), but I'm pretty stoked! 

Did you tackle the hills yesterday? If not chocolate, what do you run for?

Race Recap: St. Patrick's Day Half Marathon

St. Patrick's Day Half Marathon

El Cajon, California | March 12

El Cajon is east county San Diego, and funny enough, not far from where I used to live while I was in grad school down there! This race is put on by the same folks who do the San Diego Holiday Half, which I love, so I was excited to check this race out too. Being that this was just under two hours from home, but I didn't want to spend the cash on staying the night down there, I was clever enough to reach out to the rest of the pace team to see if anyone wanted to carpool - knowing that there were a few of us in the area that might work. Thankfully, Meri and Champagne both jumped at the chance, despite needing to meet up at the ungodly hour of 4:15 am, it was nice having company on the way down!

The race offers both a 5K and half marathon, both with separate start and finish lines, which was nice in keeping them separated. The half started at 7:15, so the pace team met up about 6:30. We rolled into the parking lot about 6:10, so had plenty of time to veg, get our packets and get situated before meeting up with the rest of the team. In fact, parking was so easy, we parked two rows away and across the street from packet pick up and the 5K start/finish line. Talk about convenient.

After we got connected with the rest of the team and our necessary photo fun, we got to chill a bit more before heading to the start area about 7. The race was small - like, real small. Confirmation? 356 half marathon finishers - whoa! I don't know the last time I was in a race that small, but honestly, it's a nice change up from the 10,000+ that do some of the larger races around here.

I had a group of folks kinda hanging out with me early on, but only one woman really wanted to stick to me, Miriam. Too bad she took off at mile 4 and I never saw her again! She must've killed it.

The course is pretty simple - start in the super cute downtown area of El Cajon, out to Jamacha Rd, all the way down to Cuyamaca College, and back again.

The hills on the chart don't look as bad as they actually looked in person. I suppose I've got my hill training on lock, because they weren't terrible! A lot of folks definitely slowed their pace on these hills, particularly at miles 9-10 on the way back in. The benefit of an out-and-back? You know what's coming on the other side! Running the downhill on the way back in was awesome. About mile 10, a guy caught up to me and told me he was running his first half and was trying to beat his girlfriend who had done a couple, just to prove that he could run a half! Well that's a way prove the point, right?

I rolled in to a 2:14:11 finish (Garmin 2:14:13. I don't think I've ever been so close to chip time on my watch). I met up with Meri to pass off signs, but because I had 15 miles on the day to do, she let me go run around and get some more in. I ran around the block and then down to the 12.5 mark or so and cheered folks in. A woman asked if I'd pace her the last half mile to get to the finish, so I happily jumped in with her. 

Meri and I got a text from Champagne saying her sickness had gotten a hold of her and she wasn't doing well, so we ran back and found her right about 12.5 again and ran/walked her in to the end. 15 miles on my day, done! 

Probably one of the coolest medals, for such a small production. The center banner spins and I love the shamrock charm. Well done to this race crew!

All in all, a great race. I recommend this one if you're in the area and need some good hilly runs! 

Have you ever done a St. Patrick's themed run? 

Race Recap: Phoenix Marathon

Phoenix Marathon | Mesa, Arizona

February 27, 2016

Isn't it amazing how fast race day comes? After some less than stellar sleep, our alarms started going off about 3:15. Our plan was to be out the door by 3:45 to get me to the right drop off area with enough time for Tina to get over to the half drop off area in time too. 

We left about 3:50 but were early enough to my area that we hung out in the car a few more minutes and got my nerves in check and supplies together for the day. I finished my bagel and peanut butter in the car, got my stuff together, hugged Tina and made my way to the buses. There were a ton of buses and I was able to walk right on. Guess there's no turning back now... 

I sat in the second row behind the driver, tried making friends with the guy next to me, but he was already asleep as we pulled away from Mesa Riverview. I quietly texted Tina, played on Instagram and Twitter, and tried to calm the swirling thoughts in my head. We left Riverview probably before even 4:30 and I was already dreading spending an hour+ at the top of the mountain. We were on a freeway a while, made a turn somewhere... and then some man comes parading to the front of the bus and gets in the driver's face about how he's going the wrong way. The poor driver insists we're going the right way and kindly asks the man to get back to his seat. Onward. 

At 4:57, the driver pulls to the shoulder of this two lane mountain road - the stop engine light had come on and then the engine just died. 4:58, driver calls in, they're sending a bus up. Good thing I got on a fairly early bus! I was calm - I mean, at least I was in a warm(ish) bus, not freezing on the top of the mountain! The guy next to me was awake, looking at his map and also agreeing that we'd been going the wrong way. He ran the race last year and was hoping for a BQ this year. 5:10ish: man comes back up to the driver, map on phone pulled up, and insisted we were going the wrong way yet again. Driver asks him (a little more sternly) to go back to his seat, that we were going the right way. People are getting on and off the bus to use the desert as their porto-potty (because why not?). 5:15: grumpy people in the back very rudely ask for an update, "It's been 20 minutes!" Driver says that yes, he called 20 minutes ago and that it was going to be 20-30 minutes from when he called in. "Well where is the bus coming from, the start line? The finish line? Your base?" and "How far to the start from here?" and frankly, being unbearbly rude in a less than ideal situation. Finally, three or four of us from the front turned and asked them to calm down and remind them that our driver was volunteering his time to take us to the top and that we'd be fine. It is only 5:15 after all. 5:23: Rescued!

We were, in fact, going the right way and about two miles from the start area where the bus died. Less than 5 minutes and we were right where we needed to be. Still an hour early. I hopped off the bus, straight to the bathroom line and found a few campfires and heat lamps to hover around. There were more than enough and people were chatting it up. I couldn't find anyone I knew (womp), so I just buzzed from heatlamp to heatlamp, hoping to calm my nerves by striking up a conversation with someone. No dice. And then... I saw my Garmin had died. Well if that's not a sign I need a new one... maybe that was the sign I needed that I needed to hang with the pacer (a debate I'd been having all week). 

Sure, there's an uphill. One. Not steep, just long. Not worth running 9:30s for, dude.

Before I knew it, it was time to head to the start line. After national anthem and fireworks (!), we were allowed to inch our way closer. I saw a few pacers come forward (3:25 and 3:55) but no others. Behind me, 4:55 and 5:10 eventually rolled in. It's 6:20... where on earth are these middle pacers? Kid you not, about 6:27, a few more pacers rolled in. 4:25 finally showed up, headphones in both ears already. Great, so it's gonna be that kinda race. I let him get to his spot, tapped him on the shoulder and asked what his race strategy was. "Um... 10 minute miles." "Yeah, I know that, but what's your actual strategy? Are you negative-splitting? Or consistent throughout?" He kind of stumbled and said he'd run "about 9:30 on the downhills to save it for the uphill." At that point, I knew I was in trouble. But I decided I'd give the benefit of the doubt and the pacer and give it a shot. 

Mile 1: 9:09. No, sir, that's not how this works. I know this mile because I very quickly befriended some women about a half-mile in who had planned to run with this guy too but knew very quickly it wasn't going to work. We formed our own pace group - me, Stef, Mikie and Rosie. A mile in, 4:25 guy was running right next to 4:10 lady. Um... no. 

Stef, Mikie, Rosie and I decided we'd hang out together and hold each other close to run a great race. Two of the four of us had watches on and I had printed out a 4:25 pace band, so at least we knew we'd be on target. After mile 1, we literally didn't see 4:25 again until mile 8. At mile 8, we were at a 4:22 finish and he was a solid 100 yards ahead of us. Not okay. 

Mile 17 and feeling good... so, so good.

As a reminder, I had three target goals for the race:

A) A Time

B) Just a PR. 

C) Run a strong race.

Besties! Love race weekends with her so much!

Since I don't have a Garmin record I even race this sucker (womp), here's what I can tell you:

• 4:25 is in my reach. Up until Mile 20, I was close. I was rockin' and happy. 
• Look at the last 10K. I can honestly say it wasn't a wall. I was hot and tired. Mentally, I was psyched.
• Ultimately, I met goal C and I am elated with my performance on Sunday. I've only run three fulls, but this was by far the smartest race of my life. I Gu'd every 4 miles, alternated between water and Gatorade, and when it got hot, started taking two waters to drink and dump on my head.
• Taking my Orange Mud Hydraquiver was a genius idea.
• Mountain Dew at Mile 17 is life-changing.

Doug and Tina were waiting at the finish line for me and Tina asked Doug if I'd be disappointed I didn't hit my supreme goal time and he just said, "I don't know." Truth be told, given the training I had (or lack there of, really), I am damn proud of the race I had. Four days out, I am mentally in a better place than I was going into the race, and am pumped to jump into training for the OC full on May 1. 

I know I've got what it takes. 

Oh? And those pacers? I told Doug at about mile 17 that I was way behind the 4:25 pacer (as he was one of the two that knew that plan). 3:25 came in about 5 minutes early; 3:55 came in at 3:52 and 4:25 dude came in 5 minutes early also. 

Post-Phoenix here are my thoughts. An amazing race, overall, and I'm signed up for the half for next year. 

Pros

- Aid stations. They do an awesome cheer station contest and they go all out! Otherwise, a fairly quiet course.

- Race swag. Singlet, socks, arm sleeves and a book all came in my race bag. Sweet! 

- Great course. The one uphill isn't hard, just a long grade, but nothing anyone can't handle. 

- Phenomenal post-race party. Famous Dave's and French toast are a little much for me right after, but there were tons of food options. I had ice cream. It was amazing. 

- Who doesn't love a PR bell to ring?

Cons

- Pace Team. I mean this overall. I recognize that this is a large BQ race, but if they're going to be running for BQ times (i.e. 3:55 coming in at 3:52 to make the window), the race needs to advertise as such. Ventura does and is effective. 

- Quiet course. If you need loud, energetic course sidelines, this isn't always your kinda place.

Overall, I'm happy. Happy, happy, happy. As I said, I'll be back next year to run the half and hopefully all the way through 2020 to earn this: 

Have you ever been happy when you didn't meet your A/B goal?